The Dragon Masters: War of Leafre
by Alice Harkey
Summary: (Title Unofficial) Legends spoke of a great war that took place in a realm beyond Earthland. They told of mighty dragons fighting alongside their beloved princess to save their kingdom. And at her side were her human companions she considered family. But, what if the legends are true? Lucy has made it to Leafre and now... the time for war has come. Sequel for The Dragon Masters
1. Chapter 1

**AN/: Welcome to the first chapter of the sequel to The Dragon Masters! The title isn't official yet and you can vote for the title on the poll on my profile! Anyways! I decided to upload this as kind of a preview. There might actually be a prologue to this story, but I wanted to see how this went first! **

**If you're reading this then you must have been a fan of the prequel story, The Dragon Masters. I welcome back all of my loyal readers with open arms and some freshly fallen tears! I just can't believe what a big success this has all been! I'm hoping to not disappoint you with the sequel, and hopefully, the third installment of my planned-to-be trilogy. SURPRISE! Well, I hope you enjoy this! I might as well post a final chapter in The Dragon Masters to alert others that the sequel is up, right? Well, enjoy and be sure to review and go vote! ONWARD~!**

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Once upon a time, there was a Celestial mage named Lucy Heartfilia. She was a dreamer, and her dream was to be in Fiore's number one guild, Fairy Tail. Her dream came true one day in a town called Hargeon. The Salamander of Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel, had dragged her away to his guild and she'd felt welcome as soon as she stepped through those doors. Her life was filled with many adventures and challenges from that moment on. It was said that at some point the young, blonde mage had fallen for her pink-haired partner. After that, the legends of the Dragon Was of Leafre began to form. But, here's a secret I know you'll want to hear: all the legends, stories, and rumors of the great Dragon Princess fighting for her kingdom were more than just bedtime stories. It was more than just a legend, it was the truth.

It was a day that stared like the day before had. It was busy, busy, busy, work, work, work, for the mages that had been camping out in the safety of the Grand Palace of Leafre. Lucy had called out some of her spirits to help clean up some of the areas of the palace. Lamps were placed in the darker corridors of the castle and rooms were assigned. Lucy, of course, had chosen to stay in what appeared to be her old bedroom. It was located on the floor beneath her mother's room near the throne room. The rest of them were placed in rooms that were spread apart more, covering more of the palace yet still relatively close to each other.

It had been almost a month since Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Gajeel, and Wendy had inhabited the palace that had housed the Royal family of the dragon realm. The Fairy Tail mages kept in contact with their guild master throughout their time there. Luka would fly Lucy out into the forest where it was safer to summon a portal and send messages through. She needed to keep the palace safe, and she didn't want the enemy to worm their way through the remnants of a magic portal.

Everyone was working so hard to help in any way that they could. Gajeel was helping reinforce weakened palace walls with his iron. Gray was helping with all the food and supplies, which included gathering them _and _hiding most of it from the always hungry Natsu Dragneel. Erza was in charge of weaponry and defense. The scarlet-haired mage's job was to take care of anything that had to do with fighting. She was even helping Wendy train so that the young Sky Dragon Slayer could better assist everyone using her magic. The small, blue-haired girl had insisted that she train in order to get stronger. Of course, Wendy was also in charge of all health aspects, which included the healing, treating, and prevention of illnesses that could be present. She was often found in the palace library flipping through the pages of medical books and encyclopedias, learning as much as she could about the medical world in Leafre.

Natsu was the one who worked with Erza when it came to offensive plans. Not only did he do that, but he kept the palace nice and warm on chilly nights. He manned the heating system that ran through the palace. It was very intricate and old, making it quite difficult to handle, but the spirited fire-loving mage had no objections to trying to figure it out. And figure it out, he did. The most important thing that Natsu did, though, was stand by Lucy's side. He was practically her advisor. Sounds devastating, right? One would think so. But, surprisingly, the young man had given the Dragon Princess some great advice when she needed it. He helped her whenever he could and in whatever way he could. He supported her fully as everyone else did, but he lived up to his job title as her protector and kept her mentally intact whenever she began to crumble.

Luka had been keeping Lucy updated on all of her findings. She usually left for days to gather as much information on the enemy as she could. Sometimes, the dragon's long trips would leave Lucy a bit frazzled, constantly worrying if Luka was okay. Everyone had been worrying about Lucy. It had only been about a month and already she was ready to have a total mental meltdown.

Today was that one day out of the week when Lucy contacted Fairy Tail. It had been deemed too dangerous to actually leave Leafre; therefore, Lucy resorted to sending letters through.

_Dear Master Makarov,_

_Here is our weekly update. I'll get straight to the point. We're making pretty decent progress for it just being the seven of us. Gajeel has helped strengthen the palace walls a great deal and Natsu's been keeping the heating system running. How he's doing it, I'll never know. Erza is being Erza as usual. She's still helping with all the things that have to do with getting through whatever's coming our way. Wendy, the little darling, is trying her best to be as helpful as she can. She has Erza training her so she can get stronger. She says that if we have to fight, then she's fighting with us. I fear that bringing her here with me was a bad idea. She's just so young and to go through something like war, that's just cruel. _

_We miss everyone so much! Tell everyone we said hi, okay? Now, about that favor I asked…_

_Have you gotten any information over there? I've been searching through the history books in the library here, but there are so many of them that range over such a wide gap that it might take me a while to find the right point in time. Luka won't tell me anything more than she already has. I know she's hiding something. _

_Oh well… Gray has been going on about how he misses Juvia, so be sure to tell her that. Gajeel misses Levy a whole lot, too. Make fun of her for me a bit, okay? _

_Love,  
~Lucy_

Lucy whipped out her Universal Gate Key and summoned a small portal. Somehow, she'd gotten very good at using the little thing in the short amount of time she'd been using it. She could feel herself changing each and every day, but she wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was strange for her to be taking on the role of the leader. She wasn't used to it and she didn't think she'd ever get used to it, but that didn't mean she wasn't getting good at it. She'd been training more with Luka as well. Her magical abilities were now almost flawless. She may not have been as strong as she could be, but her technique was something she was proud to boast about.

Quickly flicking the letter through the portal she wasted no time in sealing it shut tight. She'd been very cautious about communicating with anyone who wasn't confined within the walls of the Grand Palace of Leafre. Lucy realized that she didn't quite like what she was changing into. She was always uptight and on edge. She was stressing out big time, and the real problems hadn't even come about yet.

The princess sighed and rubbed her neck. It was stiff and sore from all the stress and training with Luka. Training had taken quite a toll on her, but it was well worth it.

"Let's go, Luka," Lucy said a bit absentmindedly. She knew the dragon was already aware that she was ready to leave, but she felt the need to say it.

"Lucy, I know there's something on your mind," Luka said crouching down low so that Lucy would have an easier time climbing onto her back. "You've gotten very good at sealing your thoughts from me. Your emotions, however, are a different story." Lucy hoisted herself up and made herself comfortable.

"Yes, I know that Luka. Thank you for reminding me that it's only thing I can't keep from you," Lucy practically scoffed. Luka rolled her eyes and huffed out a smoky breath.

"I want to help you! Why won't you let me?" the Elemental Dragon pouted. She hated it when her master was like this. When she was anxious and nervous the dragon always felt uncomfortable. It was unhealthy to let Lucy stay like that, but Luka didn't know what to do to help.

"No, Luka, it's _you _that won't let yourself help me!" Lucy growled down at her dragon angrily. Using a bit of her magic she commanded Luka to take off and head for the palace. She was done with that conversation until Luka could stop being a stubborn, scaly brat. It had been a long day already and the day was only half over!

The Elemental Dragon Master walked in through a side door of the palace. She swung it open forcefully and stomped inside slamming the door shut behind her. She walked down a small corridor and found herself in a tunnel system. She'd discovered that the tunnels had actually been used by the guards of the palace when her mother was still alive. They weren't a secret from the kingdom, but navigating through them was something only few knew how to do. Lucy could get to the foyer from the tunnels, but only from the side door she'd come in through. She had to remind herself to look for a map of the tunnels later.

After taking many turns and twists she made her way to a large wall. The grey stone was cold against her hands and she pushed on the barrier, pushing her weight to the right to reveal an opening. There were secret doors like that all over the palace; she just needed to find the rest.

"Oh, Luce you're back!" Natsu shouted when he saw her come through the opening on the wall by the stairs. He watched as she pushed the wall back into place and then clapped her hands together to rid them of the dust that had collected on the wall.

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy greeted tiredly. She approached him and wrapped her arms around his torso tightly. She felt so secure in his arms. "You done for today?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah, I think so," he answered rubbing his hand in small, soothing circles on her back and gently kissing the top of her head. "I think we all should be. We haven't had a day off since we got here." He pulled Lucy away from him a bit and touched his forehead to hers. "Luce, you need to rest." At this Lucy sighed and closed her eyes. She rested her head on his shoulder and snugged into him a bit more.

"I know, I know. I feel like someone should be serving me as a dish at one of those fancy fire-food places you love so much," she giggled a bit a rolled her eyes, "My brain feels fried!"

"Then it's settled. We'll all finish up for the day, take a nap, then we'll just all spend some time together or relax," Natsu announced. The blonde in his arms smiled at his words.

"That sounds really nice. Can you tell the others? I think I'm going to start on that nap now."

"Sure thing, Luce. You get your rest, okay? I love you." He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I love you too, Natsu," Lucy said back returning the small kiss. With that she dragged herself up to her room at the top of the castle.

Lucy hoped to flop down onto her big, comfy bed and just sleep until she couldn't feel the stiffness in her neck anymore. She mentally scoffed at herself. Yeah! Like that would happen! She groaned and continued to climb up, rubbing her neck as she went. Finally, she got to the top of the stairs.

"Lucy-san?" a small voice inquired. Lucy craned her already throbbing neck to look behind her. The little Sky Dragon Slayer was running up the stairs to catch up to her. "Natsu-san said that you were in pain. I came as quick as I could. Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked quickly.

"My neck really hurts. I nice massage would really help, but you don't have to do anything, Wendy. Really, it's alright," Lucy assured the small girl. But, she insisted on helping. Wendy followed Lucy all the way up to her room and instructed her to sit down on her bed while she climbed up and sat behind her. She used a bit of her magic to help with the pain in her neck then began to massage the sore muscles with her small hands.

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much Wendy," Lucy drawled out happily. She already felt a million times better.

"It's no problem at all, Lucy-san!" Wendy leaned over onto her hand so she could see Lucy's face. She hissed in pain when she put pressure onto her palm.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly. The blunette shook her head and assured the blonde that she was fine, but Lucy didn't buy that for a second. She took Wendy's hand into her own to examine it and the girl winced at the contact. "Wendy, what happened to your hand?" Lucy gasped.

"It's nothing!" Wendy yelled trying to pry her hand from Lucy's grip. Lucy gave her a stern look, one that demanded that the truth be told. "I just cut my hand while training with Erza-san today. It's not a big deal," she insisted. Lucy's gaze softened. Wendy always tried so hard to act tough like everyone else that she often put her own wellbeing aside for others. That's what she'd always done.

"Wendy, it's not a bad thing to let others care about you every once and a while," Lucy said softly. Luckily, there were some medical supplies in the room, courtesy of Wendy herself, and Lucy was able to tend to the cut on Wendy's hand. She felt like she was mothering the little girl that everyone had grown to love so much. But, she didn't really mind. For some reason it just felt so natural.

"Thank you, Lucy," Wendy said shyly. She wrapped her petit arms around her neck in a quick hug then dashed from the room. Lucy smiled warmly after the girl. She'd finally dropped the honorific from her name. Maybe having Wendy there wasn't such a terrible thing after all. She was such a sweet little girl.

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**END NOTE: Well, how was it? We had some NaLu fluff in there, along with some minor plot here and there. I'm going to be having a lot of interaction between Wendy and Lucy, if you haven't noticed. Anyone want to take a guess as to why? Don't forget to go check out the poll and vote for the title! Also, you can like my page on Facebook where you'll get random updates on what's going on! XD I love you all so uch and thank you for being so supportive! Mwah! Kisses! **

**~Alice-chan**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN/: sorry for such a long wait. And I'm sorry in advance for this chapter being so dark. I hope it'll shed some light on some things though. I'm actually really depressed, but I'm glad that I can use my need for distraction to finally do something productive. Friday was the WORST day of my life. I was stressed out all day, then I was dumped (harsh wording but whatever), then I had to march in my LAST home football game in high school, then I was offered a piggyback ride by someone from the other band and was dropped on some rocks and nearly broke my hand. I've spent the the past two days crying and let me tell you something, IT SUCKS! Anyways, don't let my mood ruin your mood! Read on! Maybe you'll love the chapter, maybe you won't. Meh, at this point I'm just glad that I finally updated. Enjoy!**

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Bezaleel paced back and forth, his heavy feet hitting the ground hard. He pondered all kinds of things in his mind. Things like strategies and plans, reasoning and explanations. The more he thought, the more he realized that he was running out of time. He needed to strike against the princess. It would surely start a war. That much he knew with unwavering certainty. Another thing that he knew was that the princess, though she may not know it, had many allies. Bezaleel knew that a good portion of the dragon race's loyalties were held by the princess, though they didn't come out and announce it. No, that would be far too risky.

The Night Shadow dragon snickered darkly at the thought in his mind. Atropine was a dragon that had always talked of loyalty, yet he was a very complex dragon to understand. The Poison dragon was treading on some thin ice. An enormous dragon treading on thin ice? Who's bright idea was that? Bezaleel had no idea what was going on inside Atropine's head—though he had an idea of why he acted the way he did— and just thinking of the possibilities scared him, but only a little, for he'd been taken care of for the moment.

He trotted over to what looked like a horn of sorts on the large wall at the end of the room. Taking in a deep breath he let out a roar into the horn. The sound echoed throughout the castle. It was some kind of alert system that was installed in the castle after a particular _incident _a long while ago. It was a nifty little thing, indeed. Soon, all the castle's dragon residents began to gather in the large room.

"We must begin planning," Bezaleel began just as the silver-scaled dragon entered the room. She searched for dark, purple scales amongst the crowd of dragons and huffed in annoyance when she didn't see them. The Silver dragon quickly cast a glare at the Night Shadow dragon in the front of the room. She knew he was up to no good. He never was.

"It has been about a month since that Heartfilia brat has entered Leafre. She has been preparing, no doubt. It's about time we do the same. Scouts have informed me that the princess leaves the palace about once a week to contact someone in Earthland," Bezaleel said slight anger in his rough voice. It frustrated him that he couldn't identify for certain who she was contacting.

"Doesn't she have Luka with her?" one if the other dragons called out in question. Bezaleel nodded at the words.

"That is true. The princess does have the Elemental dragon with her. Princess Natsuko is also an Elemental Dragon Master, as we should all know."

"We also have reasonable suspicion that Luka may be working with Acnologia," another dragon pointed out. This caused many of the dragons to tense, especially the Silver dragon, which had more than enough reason to hate Acnologia. Bezaleel just snickered.

"Even if she were trying to work with Acnologia, I doubt it would work out very well in the end," Bezaleel smirked.

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The wind was whipping and whirling violently. Chaos was everywhere and no one had seen it coming. An array of colored scales flashed as the dragons of Leafre scattered in fear. Acnologia roared with anger and unleashed a devastating attack at one of the Elder Dragons. The beam of black matter sliced through the air, the victim of the attack just barely getting a magical shield up in time.

"You idiot!" one of the elders shouted. "So you've finally snapped, eh?" another one asked a dark and amused smirk splayed out on its scaly lips. The dragons flew into the castle and locked every entrance and exit tight.

Acnologia said nothing, but roared again. A flash of rainbow-tinted silver almost caught his attention, but not nearly enough to cause him to cease his attacks on Dragon Castle where the Elder Dragons attempted to take refuge. Luka remembered the day all too clearly. It was a day that she tried desperately to forget, and when that failed she attempted to distort the memory. So much life was lost that day that she nearly wished that she had died in all the commotion, free from the memory and peacefully residing in the afterlife. But alas, fate would see to it that she never forgot.

"Acnologia, stop!" Luka cried angrily. The Black Dragon had completely snapped. Luka bared her teeth at him as she spread out her wings to shield a group of new hatchlings; young dragons that hadn't even been alive long enough to develop their magic yet. Acnologia continued to roar, animalistic and mindless. He swung his tail at Luka and she retaliated with a snarl, snapping at the scaly flesh when it came near. She wrinkled her snout in disgust at the taste of blood in her mouth.

"Atropine, guard these hatchlings while I take care of this idiot!" Luka ordered to her comrade. Atropine gave the Elemental dragon a curt nod and expertly flew in to take her place as a shield. The Poison dragon whipped his tail around in a circle creating a poisonous barrier that would infect any who tried to break through with the intention of harming what was inside. Luka summoned some of her magic to her wings and flapped them toward Acnologia with one powerful stroke. From her wings flew gusts of fire that enveloped the Black Dragon. The attack severed well as a distraction and, flitting around to his other side, Luka unleashed a Razor Wing wind attack. Quick and sharp gusts of wind shredded Acnologia's glistening black scales.

"Luka, get out of my way," Acnologia said dropping a short distance to the ground. Luka, too, landed to loom over the dragon threateningly.

"No. What's got you going crazy like this? This isn't you!" she roared at him. Acnologia swung at Luka, his sharp claws tore at her scales and the flesh beneath them. Pain rushed through the Elemental dragon and in that moment she did something she'd never allow herself to do again. She cowered away from him. Not only did it show weakness, but it had allowed Acnologia to propel himself up and out of her reach. He touched back down to the ground and roared. But, it wasn't like his other roars. No, this one was meant to do damage. Visible sound waves rushed through the air and along the ground, cracking it and destroying anything in its path. Luckily, Luka was able to dodge by taking off as fast as she could in the other direction, another thing she would forever regret doing.

The unstable ground beneath Atropine's feet caused him to lose his balance and focus. For a mere moment his shield had collapsed and Acnologia saw a chance. There was a moment of darkness, all light stolen from just one specific spot. It was one of Acnologia's attacks known as Eclipse. Eclipse was deadly and deceiving by its name. The attack didn't just block light; it stole it from anything it touched. In fact, it stole everything it touched. Light, air, matter, time, and life; wherever Eclipse hit was left as a void of nothingness. Atropine was fortunate enough to escape the attack. However, the hatchlings weren't so fortunate. They were gone, as was everything else.

"No. NO!" Luka cried in despair. "What have you done?" Acnologia stumbled back and blinked his pitch black eyes. "How could you? You— they were of your own kind! They were only children!" Tears poured down Luka's scaly cheeks. The Black Dragon did nothing but stare at her emotionlessly. "Monster!" She let out a heat wrenching roar of agony.

"You!" a deep and furious voice shouted. Crimson scales flashed past Luka's eyes and in the next moment Igneel was stalking towards him. "This is too far! You tell me what sick plan this is now!" The chrome-scaled Iron dragon, Metalicana, was the next to appear.

"That Dragon Council lapdog, Bezaleel, hasn't even come out to whimper yet. It seems he's not worried about anything, leading us to assume that either he's in on this or you're just trying to put on some sort of sick show!" Metalicana shouted getting in Acnologia's face.

The next to appear was Grandine. Sucking in a powerful breath she summoned as much of her healing magic as she could and released it at the void that Eclipse had created. Her magic had never been meant to heal space or time, but the attempt had not been futile. It had taken nearly all of her magic, but she managed to heal the void and she fought to keep herself up. Exhaustion weighed her down as she tried to make her way to Luka.

"Dear, you must heal your wounds," Grandine muttered lightly nuzzling Luka's injured neck. The young dragon merely cried betrayal stinging at her heart.

"No, go to Atropine!" More hot tears poured from Luka's eyes. "Acnologia, he killed Atropine's son! The hatchlings, they're all gone. Dead!"

"His son was with them?" Grandine gasped. She looked toward the Poison dragon worriedly. Though he was tired and weary he had a glare set on the traitorous dragon, growling with an anger that held intent to kill. "I'll deal with him, go to Silvica!" she instructed. Luka hesitated, but took off to find the Silver dragon. Slowly, she allowed herself to heal her wounds as she flew.

The Silver dragon had been flying to Dragon Castle when Luka caught sight of her. Seeing Luka herself, the silver-scaled dragon rushed to her with panic.

"Where is he? Where's Atropine? Is he alright? And what of our son?" Luka landed on the ground littered with rubble from one of the fallen walls.

"Silvica, I'm so sorry," she began hot tears still rushing down her face. "Atropine's alright, but your son, he was… I'm so sorry but… Eclipse… there was nothing we could do!"

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Luka's eyes shot open. Her breathing was heavy and her heartbeat racing. That dream had haunted her for decades, but she thought she was free from that nightmare for a while. She still had dreams from that day, but it hadn't woken her up like that in years. Confusion always followed that nightmare. Nothing made sense, yet each and every time that dream plagued her sleep she tried to piece everything together.

Acnologia had gone crazy for some reason. He tried to kill the Elder Dragons, yet ended up being the death of many young hatchlings that day. Afterward, he had been horrified with himself. At the same time, the Elder Dragons wanted the queen and her daughter dead, even though it would mean the death of their own race. Keeping the princess safe was the only reason why the dragon survived after that. Then there was the subject of the Dragon Slayers who were targeted a couple hundred years after the incident with Acnologia.

To an extent, Luka knew what was going on. In truth, though, she really had no clue and that terrified her. She knew there was going to be war. That much was clear. But the true reason as to why was still a mystery to her.

The Elemental dragon was wary to close her eyes again. but her exhaustion got the best of her and her eyelids slid shut once more.

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**END NOTE: how was it? Dark, right? Told ya. Anyways, I'll be working on the next chapter maybe tomorrow. Or, I'll work on updating my other stories. Don't expect too much romance from me for a little while, though. I'm... just not feeling it. Also, a heads up, I DO have a facebook page you guys can like, that way you can get little updates as to how my writing is going or perhaps why I haven't been updating. Either way, I'd really love for you to like me on facebook. Just type in Alice Harkey. **

**Let me know how this chapter was. Did I still do a good job even know I'm depressed?**

**~Alice-chan**


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